Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made it clear during a press conference on Friday that he does not support Rep. Cory Mills’ (R-FL) reelection campaign in Florida’s 7th Congressional District.
“So this is a question about the 7th Congressional District Republican primary. I have not endorsed Cory Mills and I do not support Cory Mills,” DeSantis said during the press conference at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
DeSantis’s clear position follows the embattled incumbent Republican’s personal woes involving potential financial misconduct and allegations of abuse. Earlier this year, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) brought forth a resolution to expel Mills from Congress altogether, citing the allegations against him, including violence against women.
Last year, “DC Metropolitan Police were called to Mills’s residence after a 27-year-old woman reported an assault. Body camera footage and police documents confirmed visible bruising consistent with a physical assault,” a press release announcing Mace’s resolution said. “Mills told the alleged victim to lie to police and tried to call then-Attorney General Pam Bondi. DC Metro Police found probable cause to arrest Mills for misdemeanor assault and sent an arrest warrant to the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Mace’s office said, also mentioning an incident with a second women in July 2025, who reported to authorities that Mills “threatened to release intimate videos of her and harm her future romantic partners.”
“In October 2025, a Florida circuit court in Florida issued a Final Judgment of Injunction for Protection Against Dating Violence against Mills after finding he ignored eleven separate requests to leave her alone and caused her severe emotional distress,” the press release said, also highlighting the stolen valor scandal and the allegations that he violated House rules and federal law involving his companies seeking federal contracts as he sat on the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees.
“The swamp has protected Cory Mills for far too long and we are done letting it slide,” Mace said in a statement. “We tried to censure him and strip him from his committee assignments. Both parties blocked it, but we are not backing down.”
She continued:
The evidence against Mills is overwhelming: beating women and telling them to lie about it, cyberstalking women, lying about his military service, and profiting off his seat. Any Member who votes to keep him here is voting to protect a woman beater and a fraud. He needs to be expelled immediately.
Republican Ryan Elijah is challenging Mills in his reelection bid. Notably, President Donald Trump – who previously endorsed Mills – did not include him in a series of endorsements ahead of Florida’s August 18 primary.
